Happy Wedding Wednesday, everyone! I’m so excited for today’s post because I’m going to be sharing all about my wedding dress!
Going into wedding dress shopping, I was extremely intimidated. There are so. many. dresses. I had looked at tons of different dresses online before I went shopping, and there was really only one dress I had seen and liked that was no longer available, so I thought for sure I was going to need to find someone who could custom-make me what I was looking for. I feel like so many dresses these days have a lot going on with the design, and I knew I wanted something simple, timeless, and elegant that had bows going down the back. I had seen this dress from Anne Barge, which was super close to what I wanted, but the shape of the bows just didn’t feel right to me.
Finding The Dress
When I spoke to some friends about my impending dress shopping, a few different people all recommended I get in touch with Erin Cole, who is a local Orange County dress designer, for a custom gown. I went on her website and saw she was having a trunk show at a local bridal boutique called Mon Amie, so I made an appointment there to meet her and try on some dresses.
If you’re local to Orange County, I can not recommend Mon Amie enough! I truly had an amazing experience and they just have so many options! There’s truly something for everyone. My stylist Tina was extremely knowledgable and helpful and I loved that she didn’t pressure me into trying anything that felt too out of my comfort zone.
When I got to my appointment and started speaking with Erin, I showed her some pictures of the dress that I had seen and loved and asked her if she’d be able to make it for me. While she said she could absolutely make it, she also showed me a dress she already had in her collection, the Grace dress, that was similar and that she said we could customize to make into dress of my dreams! It was the first dress I tried on at my appointment and it was absolute perfection. I had both of my parents there with me and we all agreed it was “the one” right away.
The Fitting
It took about 6 months for my dress to be made after I ordered it and then I waited another 3 months or so to go in to have it fitted. Since Erin was local in Costa Mesa, I ended up doing my dress alterations directly with her! I feel SO lucky that I was able to do this because she really helped guarantee that everything was just right. I lost a pretty significant amount of weight from when I bought the dress to when I had it fitted 9 months later, which I had been planning on, but I was still nervous about all the altering that was going to need to be done. It had to be taken down a couple of dress sizes, and after reading horror stories about brides hating their dresses after alterations, I was SO scared! Of course, I had nothing to worry about and the dress fit me like a glove. It was PERFECT! I actually started crying when I got it on!
My face when I tried it on after it was altered:
The Bows
Growing up, my nickname was “bow head” after the giant bows I wore in my hair every day. I’ve always loved bows and felt like they were truly part of my identity, so it was a no-brainer that I would have bows incorporated into my dress somehow. There are so many dresses with big bows on the back, or even the front, and while I love a big bow, for some reason, they all felt a bit much and overdone to me. This is why I loved the idea of the small bows going down the back! I loved how Erin had the buttons in between the bows as well… all in the details!
Erin and I worked together to create the perfect bow. The fabric was the exact same Mikado fabric as the rest of the gown and I wanted them to be straight across bows rather than having tails—simple and elegant. They ended up being even better than I could have imagined. I was and still am completely obsessed with my dress!
The Veil
Now for the veil, I went into my first dress appointment thinking I was going to purchase this veil from Molly Moorkamp, which I absolutely adore. (Hello!? Bow Head!!!) A lot of people seemed to be surprised that I wanted to go with a short veil. Although we were having a black tie wedding, we were at the beach and I felt like having a short veil would help match the beach vibes and keep it from feeling stuffy! I also wanted the veil to be really poofy and full at the top. It just felt whimsical and totally me… and a little bit retro which I also adored.
I showed the veil I had seen online to Erin, but after her and my creative juices started flowing on the dress, she started showing me a bunch of different veils from her collection. There were different elements I liked from each veil I tried, but nothing I loved. So, she ended up designing a custom veil incorporating all the different elements from each one and adding a bow on top that matched the dress! When we dreamed it up, I’ll admit I was a little anxious that I wouldn’t really love it in person, but the minute I tried it on I knew it was perfection. I loved the tiers, the piping on the trim, the bow, just everything! The design was so detailed and Erin really did listen to everything I had said I loved. She even named it the Samantha veil after me!
Looking back, I am obsessed with how the tiers look in the photos, it added great dimension to the veil and the way it blew in the wind was stunning.
My Something Blue
For my something blue, my mom ordered me a beautiful wedding dress label that had our married monogram and our wedding date on it from Extra Special Touch. I took the lable with me to my fitting and Erin’s team sewed it into the hem of the dress! It ended up being exactly that… an extra special touch!
And there you have it! All the details on my wedding dress! I just adored my dress so much and am so grateful to Erin and her team for making my dreams come true!
See you next week for another Wedding Wednesday post! As always, you can send me a DM if you ever have any questions!
